Statement of The Very Reverend Katherine Ragsdale, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) on today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June Medical Services v. Russo:
We are relieved and encouraged that our member clinics in Louisiana will be able to continue providing the safe, compassionate abortion care that their patients need. People in Louisiana can breathe a little easier today, knowing they will continue to have access to abortion care in their state.
While today’s victory is important, this case should never have gotten this far. It was just four years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an identical law in Texas was unconstitutional, yet Louisiana’s anti-abortion politicians chose to ignore that precedent and waste the state’s resources by litigating this blatantly unconstitutional law. Unfortunately, the Louisiana law is just one part of a coordinated effort to eliminate abortion care clinic by clinic and state by state, until that care is impossible for people to obtain. It is time for these relentless and clearly unconstitutional attacks on the right to obtain abortion care to stop.
Today’s ruling should be a wakeup call to anti-abortion politicians across the country. We will continue working with our members, patients, and other organizations to fight these politically-motivated, medically-unnecessary laws and to ensure all people have access to the rights today’s ruling affirmed.
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The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers. Our members include individuals, private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women’s health centers, physicians’ offices, and hospitals who together care for approximately half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Our members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia. NAF unites, represents, serves, and supports abortion providers in delivering patient-centered, evidence-based care.